A new investigation has revealed rare screenshots of NSO Group’s Pegasus iPhone spyware in action, showing off its user interface, capabilities, and more.
The screenshots depict a prototype version of Pegasus meant for use by Israeli police. Some of the spyware’s abilities include reading WhatsApp messages, activating a phone’s microphone, and recording incoming or outgoing calls.
Watch @Seytonic’s Quick overview of the latest on Pegasus:
It isn’t clear if the version of Pegasus in the screenshots is the same as the ones used by government entities across the globe to surveil activists, dissidents, and journalists.
The screenshots were published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz following an investigation by the country’s government. That probe was spurred itself by a separate investigative report from earlier in 2022 indicating that Israeli police forces had been spying on citizens without oversight.
Pegasus is a spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli-based surveillance software maker. The company’s spyware has been used in attacks targeting everyone from U.S. State Department officials to journalists working for Al Jazeera.
Back in November 2021, the U.S. government declared NSO Group and its Pegasus hacking tools a national security risk. Prior to that, the FBI was mulling using Pegasus spyware for domestic surveillance operations.
Apple also sued NSO Group in November 2021 over Pegasus. Under the weight of controversy and financial strain, NSO Group was said in December to be considering killing off its spyware tools.
In June, reports suggested that cash-strapped NSO Group could be acquired by U.S. defense contractor L3Harris, which is known for making its own surveillance tools, such as Stingray.
Suggest an edit to this article
Go to Cybersecurity Knowledge Base
Got to the Latest Cybersecurity News
Stay informed of the latest Cybersecurity trends, threats and developments. Sign up for our Weekly Cybersecurity Newsletter Today.
Remember, CyberSecurity Starts With You!
- Globally, 30,000 websites are hacked daily.
- 64% of companies worldwide have experienced at least one form of a cyber attack.
- There were 20M breached records in March 2021.
- In 2020, ransomware cases grew by 150%.
- Email is responsible for around 94% of all malware.
- Every 39 seconds, there is a new attack somewhere on the web.
- An average of around 24,000 malicious mobile apps are blocked daily on the internet.
